I've Made Friends!!!!

G'DAY YALL!

I have had a great last couple of days and I wanted to share some experiences I've had!

Friday, Jodie (my host mom) had to go into work for a little bit. So it was technically my first day on the job! Blake and Zoe were home with me and Madd was at her grandmother's house. My first week ended successfully with me getting an Australian bank account, an Australian phone number, and also a "Mykey Card" that lets you access the public transportation. 3 days in and I felt completely settled.

Sidenote: Every morning when I have been waking up, I have been catching up on texts and facetiming with family. Although a 17 hour time difference sounds like a lot, there are a lot of good awake hours that I can talk to everyone!

On Friday afternoon, Jodie called me from work and asked me if I would like to go out that evening with a girl she works with called Jacki and Jacki's friend Leigh. I must admit, I was pretty tired and wasn't feeling too good, but I had vowed that 2015 was going to be the year of YES and so I agreed to go. 

Jodie dropped me off with Jacki around 6pm and we went over to Jack's friend Leigh's house for dinner and to get ready. They were so welcoming to me and I was so excited to get out of the house a bit and have a drink!

Crazy Hair Zoe!

Selfies with my 3 kiddos

Madd loves helping me get ready

1st night out on the town in Melbourne!

Leigh, Jacki, and me! Love new friends!

 We began the night at a pub called Bridie O'Reillys where there was a "Singles Mingles" night going on. Although the crowd seemed to be aged 50 years and higher... we still managed to have a good time! They were playing all the good music that American clubs/bars would play. Fun dance music!! Shortly after arriving there, we decided to move on to another bar in the city... so we hopped into a cab and headed for the city.

Singles Mingle

Jack, Leigh, and Tomi - 3 blokes on the town

My first cab ride!

We popped in and out of a couple bars and then ended up going to Crown - which is a hotel/casino/ with tons of clubs! Word to anyone coming to visit Australia, drinking is so expensive! A vodka/sprite (they call it vodka/lemonade) cost like $12! Another piece of advice is these people party hard! In Texas our bars close at 2AM and I barely could make it to 2AM... these clubs... I don't even know what time they close. At 3:30AM everyone was still going SO hard.... I decided to leave the girls and take a cab home by myself. After about a 15 min cab ride, I was home safely and rushed upstairs to go to bed! I must admit, it felt a bit weird to walk into someone else's house at that late of an hour. But Jodie has insisted, it is my home too and she just wants to know whatever I am doing I am safe.

First night in the city

 Day 2 of going out! Saturday morning I stayed in bed almost all day. It was nice to have the day off and not have to do anything. I had made tentative plans with some other Au Pairs in the area who I met off of the Au Pair Facebook group. It is a great place to connect with people who are doing the same thing you are doing!

I didn't sleep very well because I had just picked up a bad cough and after staying up so late, I didn't think I was going to be up for another big night. I talked to Jodie about my debate and she encouraged me to go out. She said, have it a go and see how you feel! You can always sleep all day tomorrow. Again, due to it being my 2015 resolution to say YES to things, I decided to go.

Around 5pm a South Carolina Au Pair named Bek kindly came to pick me up from my house! Her host family is away at the moment and so she had a nice big house to herself and didn't mind me coming over to get ready. Bek and I immediately clicked and I knew we would be fast friends!! When we got to her house there were two other girls there. Rochelle, an Au Pair from Nebraska, and Maddison, a native Aussie who is Au Pairing and going to school!

We ordered pizza to the house and started getting ready! It felt like a regular old girls night with my friends at a home. I completely connected with them and feel like I have true friends here! Only 1 week in, I feel pretty good!!

We started the night at a bar in town called the Bridge Hotel. It was pretty cool! Low key and more on the quiet side. After getting a drink we decided to move on to the Precinct Hotel, which was right around the corner.

Side note: It is a weird feeling to have no idea where I am going or am at all times. I am trying to understand the directions to places and look at maps, but it is all a bit confusing!

I LOVED the Precinct. There was a bar on one part of the room and then a live band on the other side. We quickly got drinks and made our way to the live music. It was a cover band playing great 90's music! With a group of 4 chatty girls, we were quickly and easily meeting people! I just had such a blast. We took a cab back to Bek's house and I didnt go to bed until like 5:30AM.

Side note: The Australian accent NEVER gets old. I met a bunch of guys that night and I just wanted to continue standing there awkwardly and not speak so I could just listen to them talk to me.... I LOVEEEEE IT

Maddison, Rochelle, and me!

Bek and me :)

Thanks for letting me borrow your black dress :)

American Kisses

American Gals take Oz

We met the cutest Harry Styles look alike. This pic does NOT do it justice. He was identical! And not to mention, he had a friend with him name Zayn! We were just missing Niall, Liam, and Louis ;)

Loveee Rochelle

Sunday morning, after a not so restful sleep due to my cough, we woke up and made our way to brunch at a Paleo cafe called Patch. We sat at the bar which was fun and torturous to watch them make all the food - I was so hungry! I ordered Eggs Benedict on Paleo bread and it was amazing!!!

Yummy Menu!

Maddison kindly dropped me back off at home after brunch and I caught up on FaceTime with Ford and the rest of the Hart Family. I caught this picture while Facetiming because Ruthie had asked Ford to come say good bye to me and give me a kiss. He shook his head no and began backing up. He went to his crazy coupe car and put his head down on it to pout. He is very into pouting right now and I just cannot get enough of it. I think it's so cute! It's like he got his feelings hurt for a second! Sweet boy :)

I took a good cat nap and then loaded up in the car with the Quick family for dinner at a Winery/Pizzeria. The Quicks had organized this dinner with 2 other families at a winery/pizzeria about an hour away. After a long drive we arrived and greeted the other families who were already sitting. Due to my late couple of nights I had, I stuck to water... no wine for me. But I did indulge in lots of pizza. Their pizza is different than ours - lots of meats on top, thin bread, more sauce... It was much better than any Domino's or Cici's Pizza I have had! It was a bit windy but a gorgeous evening. I managed to get some pictures with the kiddos!

Maddison (8 years old) and me

Madd and me!

Blake (12yrs), Madd (8 yrs), and Zoe (2yrs)

My kiddos! Xx

Always need to throw in a selfie :)

After we got back from the Pizzeria, I was BEAT! I needed a good rest ASAP. I quickly rushed to bed but was woken up around 2:30AM. My cough had spread to poor Madd and so Jodie called a doctor over in the middle of the night to check us out. Although we thought it was only viral, she wanted to double check before it got worse.

The doctor prescribed us both Amoxicillin and I went back up to sleep. In the morning, Jodie ran to grab our medications and dropped Madd and Blake off at two different play dates. Jodie owns her own travel agency and was going to go inspect a cruse ship that was at port in Melbourne today. Jodie's in laws live on St. Kilda Beach which is right where Jodie needed to go, so Zoe and I went along with and spent the day at "Grandma and Pa's house". At this point I had one dosage of my antibiotics but still was feeling terrible. Luckily, Grandma was taking good care of Zoe and insisted I go lay down. I ended up taking a 3 hour nap! As a gal that never gets sick, I am thinking it is a mixture of exhaustion, new climate, and my 24 hours I spent on an airplane. I am hoping I recover quickly, because this has completely knocked me down.

I must say, I feel completely and entirely blessed and lucky to have met the Quick family. They have made me feel so welcomed and taken care of me from the first second I stepped off the plane. I can see how having a good family here could make or break this experience and I just cannot stop thanking God for sending them into my life! I feel like I have hit the jackpot and have gained a forever family.

I am not sure what the rest of the week holds in store for me, but I know I will try and say YES to as much as I can!

I am still having the time of my life, missing my family and friends but have not been overwhelmed with homesickness. Of course I wish I could cuddle and kiss my Lovey girl and Doodle bug - but I know that I am having the experience of a lifetime and will become a better person for it :)

Hope everyone is well!!

xoxo,
Tomi

First couple of days

DAY 1

The first day was kind of a tired blur. Straight from the airport, Jodie drove me to Target to pick up some extra clothes. Their Target is located inside a shopping center that looks similar to a mall. I ran in and picked up a summer dress, undies, a bra, and flip flops.

Side note: Driving on the opposite side of the car and opposite side of the road is SO weird! It feels like we are going to crash every second!!!! With my visa, I am able to drive over here, but I will be getting lessons before I hop behind the wheel by myself.

We drove up to their beautiful 4 story home and I immediately got into the shower. After a 24 hour travel, I just wanted to get cleaned up. My room is large and beautiful and over looks their gorgeous backyard! I have a floor to ceiling wardrobe that covers an entire wall and fits all my clothes. And a private bathroom with a nice shower. Although I was extremely tired, I refused the urge to sleep knowing I needed to try to get on Aussie time. Later in the evening the entire family and I went to dinner at Jodie's sister's house, who lives about 15 minutes away. We had a delicious meal of lamb roast wraps with lettuce and tomato. After a quick dinner we quickly went home to get everyone in bed early. I think I was asleep by 8:15pm and slept straight through until 9:30am! I needed to catch up on good sleep.

DAY 2

In the morning I face timed with everyone in my family :) the time change is still throwing everyone off a bit! For breakfast, I ate a piece of cinnamon toast (they eat tons of toast here!) and a banana. And I looked outside and knew it was going to be a gorgeous, HOT day. My luggage was still not here and so I borrowed another sun dress from Jodie and went outside to hang by the pool with the girls. Jodie's parents came over in the afternoon for a swim and Jodie's step father began to explain to me the world of Australian Football - which is a HUGE deal over here. We watched a game and it seemed to be a mixture of American football, rugby, and soccer. I am still trying to figure it out! All I know is it looks extremely tough to play.

By the early afternoon.... MY LUGGAGE FINALLY ARRIVED! So I spent the afternoon unpacking and getting my room organized. Yes mom and dad - it IS clean! Madd (the 8 yr old girl) thinks is so funny how I have all my stuff monogrammed with my initials or my name! I guess that is not popular here. For lunch Jodie made us homemade pizza on wraps (tortillas) and those were delicious. For a carb lover like myself, I am making sure I am conscious of my carb intake!

Blake (the 12 year old boy of the family) asked me, "How many times do you say 'y'all' in one day?" Haha they think my accent is pretty funny. I just love the Aussie accent and I am starting to hear it less and less and just get completely used to it.

Everything here is in the metric system which has been something to get used to. Kilograms, Kilometers, etc... it is all a bit confusing!

That evening we ate a yummy dinner of chicken and a delicious salad with cucumbers, red bell peppers, celery, and lots of other goodies! After dinner, Jodie and I went for a 5k walk around the neighborhood. She is quite the runner and walker, and so I am trying to get up to her speed. Their neighborhood is extremely hilly and so I am feeling extremely sore today! Blake (the 12 yr old boy) told me that every Au Pair that comes just wants to get in shape haha! I told him that was the exact reason I was there haha. I showered and quickly drifted off to sleep. 

DAY 3

Blake went to work with his dad in the morning and Madd went to her grandmothers for a couple of days and so it was just going to be Jodie, Zoe, and I for the day. The kids are all on "Summer Holiday" and will begin school again at the beginning of February. Jodie owns her own business called Meridian Travel and so it allows her schedule to be flexible, which I have completely appreciated so she can help show me the ropes!

I woke up feeling so great because it was going to be my first day in my own clothes! I facetimed with Amalia. I think by making FaceTime just apart of my every day life it will make things feel less weird and sad when I miss someone. After talking to Amalia, I went downstairs to have breakfast. I served myself some yogurt and fruit. The house was so quiet because Zoe had slept in a bit! Today Jodie was going to take me on a driving tour into the city, to help me get my bearings a little bit and understand where I was a bit more.

Us three girls loaded up into the car and headed for the city. They live about 15-20 min away from the city in a suburb. There is an extremely good public transportation system here and so when I want to go into the city, I will hop on the train right by their house and 20 minutes later I will be downtown! I am excited to venture out on my own this weekend and see if I can figure it out. Big learning lessons here!!!!

We entered the city and it is fairly big and reminded me of a mixture of Downtown Austin and Downtown Houston. Lots of people everywhere! Beautiful stores, restaurants, hotels, and more. She showed me where the train would drop me off and also there are free trams there to take you up and down different parts of the city.

There are a couple Facebook groups I have become a member to that are for new people in Melbourne. They set up meet ups, pub crawls, dinners, going out functions, etc! I am so excited to meet people and explore! The weather is supposed to be bad this weekend, but I am planning on heading into the city to try it out.

One of the coolest parts of the city to me was the athletic district. This is where all the athletics are held: Tennis, Australian Football, Cricket, and Soccer. Etihad Stadium is where I will see One Direction perform in a couple weeks and MCG Stadium is another massive stadium that holds over 100,000.

Etihad Stadium

MCG Stadium

Jodie drove us down to South Yarra and St. Kilda Beach, where her in-laws live. This is a beautiful beach that I plan to spend some time on!

We stopped for a quick coffee in the Village (I had water haha) and made our way back to the house. We put Zoe down for a nap and Jodie needed to get some work done and so I am up in my room writing this blog! Tonight we are eating a pasta with a homemade Bolognese sauce - yummmm!

I know this blog is a bit rambled and random, but I want to keep everyone informed as to what I am doing. I have been feeling really great and welcomed and not homesick yet. I think everything is still so new, it feels like I am on vacation. How could I not while I am laying by the pool in 95 degree weather???!

Random things I noticed: 
-the toilet DOES indeed flush the opposite way
-to turn the light switches on you flip them down not up
-the AC is in each room and you only turn it on if someone is in there
-The accent never gets old... I just love it
-they LOVE coffee here, I am going to have to try some different kinds
-Most of the same TV channels, Zoe loves to watch Dora the Explorer

As always, thank you everyone for your support. It means the world.

xoxo,
Tomi

Some Pictures from the last couple days!

Aussies have Aldi's too!

Embry and Zoe facetiming!

Sweet kisses to Embry!

Doodle Bug Facetimes!

My first experience with Vegemite!

Blake's selfie I found on my phone

 

Zoe and me at the coffee shop

Cute girl!

Cute coffee shop in St. Kilda

FaceTime with Mom and Bug!

oh... and with Kevin the cat

View from my bedroom - LOVE!

Calendar my sisters' made me!

My giant wardrobe/closet

Adorable dresser in my room!

My bedroom!

My bedroom!

The Flight

On Sunday morning, I woke up and it was THE day! The day I had been counting down to for a couple months now. The day I would be leaving Austin, Texas to start my new adventure in Melbourne, Australia.

I woke up and had breakfast with my parents and Amalia at Jardin Corona... of course, where else??! I had to say goodbye to all the waitstaff there. Also I had to say goodbye to Amalia, my best friend of so long.... that was quite a hard and tearful goodbye! But I am trying to convince her to visit me! 

From there I relaxed at home for a little while longer and then my parents and brother loaded me up and we headed for the airport. Another hard and tearful goodbye, but luckily my parents and brother are coming to visit me in 2.5 months!

I am really comfortable in an airport and so I got along just fine!

My flight itinerary looked like this: Austin --> Los Angeles --> New Zealand --> Australia!

Except for a slight delay on my Austin flight... getting from Austin to LA wasn't bad at all. When I got to LA, that is when things got interesting. I had to collect my baggage and then hustle to a completely different terminal to recheck my luggage and get ready for my first international flight.

Imagine this - girl pushing a luggage cart with over 150 lbs of luggage... heading in a direction that will hopefully take me to the correct terminal. That was a stressful couple of minutes. I checked my luggage, got through security, and headed to find my gate. LAX has such beautiful shops I was tempted to do some shopping!

I relaxed at my gate and waited for boarding. I was flying with Air New Zealand, which is known to be a nice airline! As it was my turn to board the flight, I entered the plane to see the most beautiful seats I had ever scene. I felt like Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City 2! I was thinking... wow I will get a GREAT nights sleep in these seats!

...... then a flight attendant told me to continue walking toward the back of the plane. I had completely misunderstood and I was not going to be sitting in business class --- but I would be sitting in economy class in a normal seat. My dreams were crushed!!! Then to make matters worse, not only did I have to sit in economy class, but I was placed in the middle seat..... BUMMER!!! I optimistically sat down and got settled and was trying to imagine sleeping sitting up for the next 13 hours, when the clouds parted and a gorgeously handsome man sat down right next to me. I immediately struck up a conversation and found out he was from Canada but had been going to school in New Zealand for the last couple years. He had done this flight multiple times, so he was explaining how things worked to me. On the back of each seat there is a TV screen where you can watch any movie, TV show, play games, etc. For anyone that knows me... I loved this part. I began a Harry Potter marathon.

After a couple hours into the flight dinner was served. It was a delicious meal of a beef roast, with mash potatoes, and grilled zucchini. Another bonus about this flight was the free alcohol. So I enjoyed 2 (large) glasses of wine to help put me to sleep. The next couple hours were quite a blur. I woke up with aching neck and my legs were crammed. I was tempted to lay my head on my cute seat neighbor, but I realized after 6 hours of travel together we still hadn't exchanged names.... So I figured I shouldn't freak him out haha. After a pretty miserable sleep, we were woken up by breakfast being served. It was a cheese omelet with home fries and yogurt and fruit! Very delicious. We made our way into New Zealand safely and I had to say goodbye to my cute seat neighbor.

I got off the plane and had ONE more flight into Melbourne, Australia. I was very discombobulated due to the lack of sleep and all the time changes... I still am a bit confused. One of the weirdest thing is that I completely skipped Monday while traveling. On my way to New Zealand we crossed the international time change line and so I completely lost a day. The time change is something I am still getting used to! It is weird to get up and think about Austin, Texas time being 17 hours earlier. My flight to Melb was 4 hours long and luckily I had a window seat. So I managed to sleep a bit. Thank goodness for Melatonin and sleep masks!

We touched down in Melb at 10am and I was SO happy to be "home". I was eager to get off the plane and meet Jodie and the kids who would be picking me up. I made it through customs and went to wait for my luggage... my two giant suitcases that I had packed my entire life into. As the carousel kept going around and around, there were less bags to choose from. My bags did not appear...

I was absolutely distraught. With tears in my eyes I walked over to the luggage services and they informed me that its possible that my luggage didn't make it on my connecting flight. I filled out some paperwork while trying to wipe away my tears. Maybe I sound a tad bit dramatic... but I was alone in a foreign country, with no luggage, and had slept maybe 2 hours! I got in line and waited to go through the final passport check - bag less and still crying. I heard the accents of 3 English boys behind me who were talking about their crazy experiences of their holiday for the last couple of weeks. It felt like I was meeting the cast of the Hangover and the Hangover 2 based off the stories they were telling me. One guy was bit by a monkey, one was punched in the face by a tranny, one lost his passport... and so I became a part of their struggle bus when I shared that my luggage was lost. Those boys were a breath of fresh air to me and helped get a smile on my face!

I was finally done and walked through the final doors into the arms of Jodie, my new mum!! She was there with Madd, 8 year old daughter, and Zoe, 2 year old daughter, with welcoming signs! I was so happy to see them and get as far away from the airport as possible. She informed me that they would hopefully drop my luggage off in the next couple of days.

ADVICE FOR TRAVELING INTERNATIONALLY:

-pack an extra outfit (top, bottom, flip flops, undies, bra, socks, etc) because I did not and I was SOL...
-pack lightly in your carry ons (most of what I thought I needed was completely unnecessary and just wasted space!)

All in all, I am just happy I made it safely :)

xoxo,
Tomi